National News

Toxic Water Actually 'So Routine' in Ohio

(NEWSER) – Tap water has been declared safe to drink and bathe in again in Toledo, Ohio, but scientists warn that toxic algae blooms could be here to stay. Fertilizer from farms and cattle feedlots are partly to blame for the thick layer of algae choking Lake Erie, the most developed of the Great Lakes, reports the New York Times, which calls summertime swimming bans "so routine" in the state. But it's not just nitrogen and phosphorus feeding the algae, which is made up of bacteria called micosystis—it's also the introduction of invasive zebra and quagga mussels that eat the algae and then eject the micosystis, which builds over time, according to the Christian Science Monitor.